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Buemi

F1 drivers typically have a shelf life shorter than what you otherwise might call a career. As the constant stream of new, young drivers usurps existing F1 seats, you're left with a wealth of talent available to contest other forms of motorsport. That's how you end up with former grand prix pilots in other series like IndyCar, DTM and even ice racing. Then there's Le Mans.

Many eyebrows were raised when Red Bull jumped from sponsoring existing F1 teams to buying its own 2005, but then the energy-drink giant surprised the pundits again by buying an unprecedented second team in 2006. So why'd they do it? To give the aspiring talents, which the outfit nurtures through its extensive young driver development program, a leg up into the pinnacle of motorsport.

With Sebastian Vettel moving up to the Red Bull senior squad to fill the vacancy left by David Coulthard's, the motor racing community has been held in suspense, waiting for the junior Scuderia Toro Rosso team to announce their drivers for 2009. The team has now confirmed that 20-year-old Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi – part of Red Bull's driver development program, who drove in GP2 last season while acting as test driver for Red Bull Racing – will take Vettel's seat for the coming se